August 24, 2007
Dear Doctor,
In May 2007 I successfully conceived after using Follistim, Ovidrel and IUI. This was my first pregnancy ever. I had a pretty extreme case of ovarian hyperstimulation following the hormones which was exacerbated with the success of the conception and eventually subsided around week 10 of the pregnancy. After a round of first trimester blood work, FISH, and amnio it was confirmed that my baby tested positive for Down's Syndrome. Due to my and my husband's ages (41 and 45) we realized that we could not raise a child with mental retardation who would dependent upon us for the extent of their life especially as we grew into our elder years. Though we understand the increased risks due to my age we want to try again. We are considering using IVF and the method that helps check for any deformed embryos prior to transfer. We are a bit gun shy using the IUI method again. I am having a 18-week pregnancy termination procedure on Tuesday August 28th, 2007. How soon after this procedure could I expect my hormones to return to a 'normalized' state before trying again. I understand the emotional after effects may take some time, but I plan to go for counseling to help work through these feelings. I appreciate any thoughts you may have in this regard. Thanks, Eve
In May 2007 I successfully conceived after using Follistim, Ovidrel and IUI. This was my first pregnancy ever. I had a pretty extreme case of ovarian hyperstimulation following the hormones which was exacerbated with the success of the conception and eventually subsided around week 10 of the pregnancy. After a round of first trimester blood work, FISH, and amnio it was confirmed that my baby tested positive for Down's Syndrome. Due to my and my husband's ages (41 and 45) we realized that we could not raise a child with mental retardation who would dependent upon us for the extent of their life especially as we grew into our elder years. Though we understand the increased risks due to my age we want to try again. We are considering using IVF and the method that helps check for any deformed embryos prior to transfer. We are a bit gun shy using the IUI method again. I am having a 18-week pregnancy termination procedure on Tuesday August 28th, 2007. How soon after this procedure could I expect my hormones to return to a 'normalized' state before trying again. I understand the emotional after effects may take some time, but I plan to go for counseling to help work through these feelings. I appreciate any thoughts you may have in this regard. Thanks, Eve
August 24, 2007
We're soo sorry and unfortunately the risk does increase with age. Given age Eve, you may have to act quickly and would give your body a couple of months to recover and go for it, it shouldn't be a problem. And yes, get all the help you can get so that both of you can get through this together. FISH done during IVF can help prevent this from happening to you again, from a procedure called PreImplantation Screening (PGS) vs PGD. I will shotly put up an article on this advanced technologies, benefits and pitfalls within the next week and hopefully you'll learn a little more from it.
I hope our community can support you through these tough times and hopefully we can all root you on as you go through the process again.